Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-12-05
An Incident of Ocean
Travel.

he did not repel a casual chat with
any one who talked with him.
The waiter who had charge of his
berth had only seen a sick man in
the state-room, and there was reason
for it, for the weather at the start
had been bad. sSMonsieur" was not
eXacting, and so the waiter was glad
when monsieur got quite well again
Indeed, 1t was very remarkable re-
covery, for when monsieur was dress
ed and came on deck, he seemed to
have grown ten, fifteen years Young
er. No one, indeed, had taken any
particular notice of the gentleman. 1t
had been cold and raw in Liverpool.
and heavy coats and shawls were in
demand, so monsieur had worn a
thick muffier around his neck, which
had been drawn up to his eyes, and
he had coughed a great deal. When
he had crawled up the gang-plank
with a feeble, halting step, the sur
geon, who was sharp enough, had
said to himself, 'sThere's passen-
ger who is going to be a nuisance,
calling me up at all hours of the
night" But that passenger never
did disturb the surgeon, and so was
forgotten.
Monsieur might have found com
| paniOns among the foreign element
on board, but he did not seem to
banker after such acquaintanceship.
1t was apparent that he spoke num-
Der of languages, and all fairly well
There was Miss McBiddie, of Dem
yer, who tried her Italian on him, and
he bore it without wincing. Miss
McBiddie's acquaintanceship had
! commenced when monsieur had very
adroitly prevented an oil cruet from
| pouring its contents over her dress.
He was quietly, not obtrusively polite
to the lady. She had left a rug in
the cabin among the fifty other rugs,
and he had selected hers and brought
it on deck for her at the precise time
when she wanted it. Now that show
| ed observation on his part, to know
the exact shade and color of her
wrap, and she was gratifed by the
attention. Then there came a flying
scud, a bucketful of water, aboard,
and monsieur had interposed his coat
| just In time, and saved the lady from
a wetting. 1t was natural that they
should talk. Evidently he was a man
who, though he had travelled much,
had never yet been in the United
States in fact, he told her that at
the second day of their acquaintance.
He wanted information. ''Did the
lady know anything about the West :?
Lots was Miss McBiddie's terse
reply: ''the West is my home
He had some idea of going to Mon
tana or to California, but he was so
ignorant of the lay of the land. ''Eu-
ropeans were so stupid, and their
conceptions of America so false. Per-
haps he might ask some question a
lady could not exactly reply to, as to
the possibilities of acquiring land in
America, and its value" Then Miss
McBiddie confessed her want of def
mite information.
'sBut papa is the man for you.
Owns a good deal of land i'll all the
territories, and has got it all down
fine," replied the lady, and that led
up to an introduction to Col. McBid-
die.
Certainly we could fix you up
right away. Want quiet and rest,
and the finest climate in the world
and bit of hunting? Know just
the spot. There is a ranch that
would suit you to a dot. Come on
to Denver, where I live, and | should
be proud to show you round. Just
ask ANYBODY for Col. McBiddie in
Denver, and you will have no trouble
in spotting me-
That is about the way the intimacy
began.
s'It would be so nice, papa, to
have a man like that in Denver. .
And that night Almeria McBiddie
made many clever plans. ellis man
ners are very elegant" she thought.
'sHe hasn't said he was prince or a
baron; but what nice foot he has
and such a well-kept hand and ner-
vous fingers, that look as if they
would take a strong grip of anything
they held. There is great deal of
latent energy in the man. Yes, mon
sieur Alexis pleases me more than
anv one | have met on this trip; and
strange. is it not, that | should find
it just as l am going home? He
told me half of his story to-day when
papa was absent. On account Of lib
eral character he was forced to leave
Poland. His lands were just across
the Russian border" And then Miss
McBiddie went to sleep and dreamed
of Thaddeus of Warsaw.
Colonel McBiddie had. however,
asked some leading questions of mon
sieur. s.You are not Nihilist: =
'.Oh, dear me, no. am very
thankful that some ancestors Of mine
made matters comparatively easy to
me, their indolent successor. If they
acquired a good castle and some land
By means which might not be eonsid-
cred quite legitimate to-day, ] an
content to let things remain as they